officers had their guns drawn and up a wide perimeter. >> there were four adults, the persons who worked inside of the marijuana grow, and they were hostages. the incident that took place this morning was a takeover robbery. >> reporter: the hostages were able to get out of the building around 8:30 this morning. no one was injured. the tactical team made their way in with the police k-9. >> they announced their presence and the dog barked. the suspect surrendered saying he didn't want to be bitten by the dog. so i think the dog gets credit for the arrest in this case. >> reporter: now four people are in custody related to the robbery. as far as the marijuana grow is concern, officers say they don't know if it was legal. that will be part of a separate investigation. investigators are looking for evidence related to the case. back to you. >> thank you. do we know how many plants there were?

>> reporter: officers said they counted preliminarily about 1,000 plants inside. >> thank you. another marijuana grow house in the city sparked a two- alarm fire that injured a san francisco firefighter this morning. kpix 5 reporter anne makovec with what happened inside that house. >> reporter: three homes damaged, a firefighter sent to the hospital, all started by a spark from what firefighters think was a marijuana growing operation. >> it was pretty obvious. >> reporter: two floors of this home on 8th avenue were filled with growing marijuana plants, the third used for drying. >> often times there's high intensity lights and often times that's what starts the fire. >> it appears that an override of the electrical system was done so most likely it's electrical in nature. >> reporter: the fire started around 8 a.m. and if anyone was home at the time, they weren't when firefighters showed up. in fact, firefighters aren't clear on who was living here at

all. >> there were stacks of mail that addressed to various people. this will be an ongoing investigation. >> reporter: with so many wood framed houses nearby neighbors are glad the firefighters were able to put it out quickly. >> scary. this neighborhood is really quiet. it's scary to wake up to all this. >> i smelled the smoke and acrid odor. i see the broken glass in the building. i can look right through. it's a tragedy. >> reporter: one firefighter injured his shoulder by slipping on the stairs and falling backward. he was taken to the hospital at ucsf. >> looks like musculoskeletal, a shoulder injury. nothing more than that. >> reporter: it's hard to see exactly how much damage was done monetarily speaking but the early estimates from the chief, $1.5 million. in san francisco, anne makovec, kpix 5. >> the fire department is turning the investigation over now to san francisco police. today and tomorrow we'll

have a chance to honor and remember two police officers killed in the line of duty. santa cruz police sergeant loran "butch" baker and officer elizabeth butler were shot to death last tuesday. a public viewing will be held this afternoon from 3:00 to 8:00 at santa cruz memorial on ocean street in santa cruz. tomorrow, a joint public memorial will be held at noon in san jose. you can watch live coverage of tomorrow's service right here on kpix 5. a late winter storm is slamming the east and snow could bury the virginias and parts of maryland under two feet of snow. tara mergener is in washington, d.c. where it's a government snow day. >> reporter: wet snow started covering the lawn of the white house this morning. today's daily press briefing was cancelled due to the so- called "snowquestration." all governor officers in the nation's capital are closed. the house of representatives moved up its votes for the week so members could try to get out

of time. local officials are asking people to stay off the roads so crews can get them salted and cleared. >> we obviously have closed the school. we obviously have closed the federal government. people should stay home. >> reporter: not much snow has been sticking but even a couple inches in washington is a big deal. this winter and last, the city has only seen 3 1/2 inches total. michelle savoy made the trip downtown for a job interview. >> i think i should get it just for trucking out here. >> reporter: outside the city, towns at higher elevations are getting socked. leesburg, virginia, could see as much as 2 feet of wet heavy snow. and power outages are the main concern. wind gusts over 40 miles per hour are hitting ocean city, new jersey. flood watches are in effect along the atlantic coast from delaware to new england where communities are still recovering from superstorm sandy. in washington, tara mergener,

kpix 5. >> people trying to fly out of the snowstorm are finding that's not really an option. hundreds of flights have been canceled. more than two dozen of those from airports right here in the bay area. our roberta gonzales is live at sfo in the kpix 5 mobile weather lab. hi, roberta. >> reporter: we have mobile weather here at the san francisco international airport and before we talk about what's going on in the east coast, currently it's 59 degrees here at sfo. the barometric pressure is on the rise. that after the passage of our own rainstorm that blew through the bay area late last night with some very gusty wind. it's not our weather affecting the east coast. it's an entirely different area of low pressure. let's take you live now to the nation's capital where there's not a lot going on at this particular time but that's going to be changing. new york city's anticipating up to 5" of snow beginning tonight through tomorrow and in fact, we have a winter weather advisory in effect for the tri-

state area from 6:00 tonight through 6:00 tomorrow night. this does encompass connecticut, new jersey and new york city metropolitan area including the long island area, as well. now, not only is it the snow that's a big factor. it also happens to be the very gusty winds, 20 to 30 miles per hour sustained winds gusts up to 50. and in addition, some of this snow is translating on over into rain. so we do also have a coastal flood advisory in effect for the jersey shoreline. now, while we have been experiencing delays here i have noticed that a few of the airlines are now up to about an hour in delay as opposed to an hour and a half earlier and some of the flights have been canceled. so we talked to a spokesman for sfo. here's what he had to say. >> most of the flights from the washington, d.c. airports canceling. we are anticipating cancellations and delays to the new york metro area airports such as newark, jfk, still unfolding a little bit there.

so still remains to be seen. >> reporter: so what we can clearly assess from all this is, yes, there are cancellations. right now there are delays right now. but this is a major storm system that's affecting anywhere from boston all the way through connecticut. really the tri-state area and the snow, rain and wind will be in the forecast through tonight all the way into friday so if you are frying to the east coast, i would certainly anticipate airport delays if not cancellations through friday. reporting live with mobile weather at sfo, roberta gonzales, kpix 5. house of representatives were able to pass a piece of legislation before fleeing the snowstorm. a 267-151 vote approved federal funding through september and avoids a government shutdown at the end of the month. the stop-gap does leave in place some of the automatic spending cuts that kicked in last week. we are going to be able to diagnose more patients with

stroke, deliver more prompt treatment and save lives. >> similar to a swimmer's goggles, the new high-tech tool helping doctors determine if you are having a stroke or something less serious. >> and those expiration dates on food labels may not mean what you think they do. the test that gives you the most accurate answer on whether food is safe to eat. hi, i'm meteorologist lawrence karnow in the kpix 5 weather center. a cold front sweeping through the bay area overnight brought nice heavy and much-needed rainfall. now we are seeing some showers behind that system. a little blue sky too. but more showers are on the way. we'll talk about that coming up.

doctors treat the condition. in today's reporter aliso helping people with asthma breathe easier a new study

suggesting changing the way doctors treat that condition. in today's healthwatch cbs reporter alison harmelin with the combination that may bring some relief. >> reporter: rivera nearly died of an asthma attack last year. >> the doctor had to basically put her fingers down my throat to keep my windpipe from closing. >> again? >> reporter: now she has two inhalers to control it. one for prevention, the other a rescue inhaler in case of an asthma attack. >> perfect. >> reporter: dr. clifford bassett says that's common practice in the u.s. but a new study in europe published in the lancet finds that combining medications in one inhaler may be a better solution. >> they were able to treat people effectively with one medication for inflammation and bronco dilation. >> reporter: patients in the study used the combination inhaler twice a day. if symptoms came on instead of

using a separate relief inhaler, they just took another puff off the combination inhaler. for patients with moderate or severe asthma the single worked better than the two. >> there was a 39% improvement in the reduction in asthma episodes. >> reporter: serena wang has had asthma most of her life. she has two inhalers but would prefer just one. >> i don't want to carry different inhalers around and doing two or three different inhalers every day. >> reporter: but dr. bassett says the study results are too new to change his practice. >> we want patients to know if they have active asthma they need to carry their rescue inhaler with them at all times. >> reporter: especially as we head into allergy season which can be a dangerous trigger for asthma. alison harmelin, cbs news, new york. there's even more reason to make sure you got a good night's sleep. researchers say people with insomnia are three times more likely to develop heart failure. the finding comes from a study in the european heart journal,

which followed more than 50,000 people for a decade. doctors aren't sure why the sleep disorder is connected to heart problems. they think it may cause stress that weakens the heart. researchers at the university of california are developing a new test that determines survival rate in older aunder all the circumstances did. it was put together after study 20,000 people over 50. it uses a point system that moves up or down depending on a person's age, medica history, diet and health habits to figure out which patients are at risk and need treatment. a high-tech pair of glasses is helping doctors diagnose people who have suffered a stroke. the device is similar to a pair of swim goggles. an infrared camera on the lens measures tiny eye movement that doctors can't see. >> when a patient presents with stroke in the back of the brain, one out of every four strokes, they present with

dizziness and vertigo and we can tell from the eye movements whether they had a stroke or inner ear condition, quickly and easily. >> the glasses have only been tested on a small number of patients but researchers hope the device will one day replace expensive brain scans that don't diagnose a stroke as quickly or accurately. technology just keeps getting better and better, right? >> that's fascinating. almost looks like the google glasses they are coming out with. >> stroke glasses. yeah. that was a fun storm last night. >> was it? >> we had some strong gusty winds and heavy rain falling in the bay area but now we're beyond that. we're in all that cold, unstable air so some more scattered showers popping up around the bay area. checking out your hi-def doppler radar, we are expecting this throughout the afternoon. noel defined cold front but we could see more pop-up showers like these. showers along the 101 north of santa rosa. east of petaluma scattered showers toward the napa valley. so through the next couple of days, you have that cold air in

place outside right now sneaking a little sunshine and then the clouds roll in and occasionally you will see a shower. temperatures right now mainly in the 50s outside. not a bad afternoon. but it was a decent rainfall overnight. almost an inch of rain in santa rosa over a third there in redwood city about .25" in concord. sfo checking in with almost .25" of rain. .19" in san francisco. about .1" of rain in san jose. still we are not done with the rainfall just yet. in fact, throughout the afternoon showers are possible. it will be breezy at times. tonight we'll be cloudy and there's a chance of showers. and tomorrow there's a possibility of an isolated thunderstorm as the core of the low is going to move close to the bay area. the front has moved by. behind that we have all that cold air moving in from the gulf of alaska. so things are going to stay unsettle for the next day and a half. a few scattered showers popping up. then toward the evening hours, not too bad. doesn't look like a wet commute. but tomorrow the core of the low will move close enough we may see a few more scattered

showers and it moves a little closer and times out well with the heating from the sun. we could actually see a few thunderstorms. i would love to see that personally. hey, how about this? with a lot of snow in the sierra nevada, five to ten inches, they will be counting up today. gusty winds to 45 miles per hour. temperatures running here mainly in the 50s for highs in the afternoon. next couple of days staying a little unsettled. by the weekend, though, what a beautiful weekend it's going to be. some of those temperatures near 70 degrees by sunday. can you believe that? >> i'm loving that! now what i loved about the storm last night? it washed my car. >> perfect! > thank you. still ahead, a numbers game they say your food has gone bad but has it? what those expiration dates mean and how often you're throwing out perfectly good food. >> and a reminder, if you have a consumer problem or question, just call our hotline, 1-888-5- helps-u. volunteers are there right now.

unnecessary. dr. kim is in today with more on why we're so ick... to toss perfe of year californians throw away tons of edible food every year. it's a waste and unnecessary often times. dr. kim has more on why we're so quick to toss perfectly good food. reporter: i opened the kpix 5 refrigerator --yogurt, use by march 5 --and did what most of us do in private. 27th. november of 2013. i checked out the date, calendar date.

these dates are old or expired -- >> throw it in the trash can. >> reporter: do you throw out much food like that? >> yes. >> reporter: why? >> i don't want to get sick. >> reporter: but according to the usda, whether it's sell by, use by or best if used by, the calendar date listed on a food product is not a safety date. it helps consumers know when to use food at its best quality. not only that, it's a conservative date. if the date expires at home, the food should be safe to eat if it's handled properly and kept cold 40 degrees or lower. eggs can be kept three to five weeks if the carton is in the back of the fridge. >> i think a lot of times we throw stuff away just because the date says it's too old. >> reporter: a recent survey found three-quarters of americans make the mistake that once the date is expired, they need to throw it out. that's a waste of food and money. instead of depending on a date -- --oh, my god, this is the worst part of the fridge. this is really bad --depend on your nose.

sniff test. hm. borderline. when in doubt, toss it out. >> good advice. dr. kim says most food poisonings occur because we don't wash our hands or properly prepare and store food. and to find out when to toss any food out, we have posted a food storage chart at cbssf.com and just click on health. when we come back, tipscy talks. who the u.s. said should stop coming to big budget negotiations drunk.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] now's

the time to save 5% off every day with your lowe's consumer credit card.

identity... and it gets stolen anyway. tonight at 5, the reason protection plans, a whole lot you pay them to protect your identity and it gets stolen any way. tonight at 5:00 the reason protection plans don't offer a whole lot of protection. and a british newspaper is buzzing with speculation that the duchess of cambridge is expecting a baby girl after a member of the public reported hearing a hint that a daughter is on the way. kate middleton had an apparent slip of the tongue when a woman gave her a teddy bear, she said thank you, i will take that for my d-d she didn't finish the word and stopped herself. one woman standing next to kate asked if she was going to say daughter and kate said no, i don't know. the royal baby by the way is due in july.

so we'll find out then. finally, it might seem like common sense not to come to work drunk, right? but the u.s. is reminding members of the u.n. to do just that. u.s. ambassadors say members of the u.n. budget committee often show up to negotiations in december tipsy. so the u.s. is proposing making the meetings, quote, inebriation-free zones. you would think you wouldn't have to say that. >> i can't even say that word. >> maybe there's something wrong with me. [ laughter ] >> maybe we should have that here. [ laughter ] >> all right. that's it for us. captions by: caption colorado comments@captioncolorado.com

>> brooke: katie and the baby? >> bill: sleeping. >> brooke: [ sighs ] i'm sorry for barging in on you and your family like this. >> bill: you're not barging. katie spends most of her time in the nursery. >> brooke: she does? >> bill: look, brooke, uh, i don't know what to tell you about eric and taylor. >> brooke: she has an agenda. she doesn't love eric. she's only using him. >> steffy: i can't believe it. you and eric? >> taylor: all i can say is it feels right. >> steffy: i'm happy for you. i really am. >> taylor: so, how's the little

one? >> steffy: oh, you know, shakin' and a-bakin'. >> taylor: [ chuckles ] so, where's the father-to-be? >> liam: hey. >> hope: hey. thanks for coming. >> liam: uh, yeah. >> hope: so, you're probably wondering why i asked you to come here. >> liam: you don't need a reason. >> hope: well, in this case, i have one. >> liam: okay. do you, um -- do you want to do this here, or... >> hope: [ chuckles ] don't -- don't worry. rick is not in the building. i'm sure you'd rather not run into him. >> leilani: oh, yeah. just so you know, we're good without you. >> rick: are you sure? >> leilani: yeah. we got this. >> rick: thank you. >> leilani: mm-hmm. >> maya: mr. popularity. first your girlfriend shows up and now everyone's waiting on you. >> rick: